First some background, I have been using a laptop with a 17" screen and max resolution of 1366x768 . It was having some overheating issues with playing STO, frame rate issues when playing current driving games, and could just about handle half-life 2, COD, and arkham city with low/medium settings.

The anticipation was pretty high, checking my email for updates constantly but it arrived right in the middle of the expected window just in time for the weekend.

First impression when picking it up, holy **** that is a big box how is it going to fit in the carâ€¦. I don't have a small car but the seats in the back still had to go down. Even got help lifting it as the last thing I wanted to do was drop it on accident! The pictures I saw online don't really do it justice, that is one beefy container and that was the standard box not even a crate! Glad that even the basic shipping gets quality packaging.

Unpacked and took the side panel off pulled out the magic expanding foam doubled checked all the connections but the side back on, turned it upright and heard something rattle down. Pulled the side back off and found a small piece of plastic that looks like a hard drive mounting clip or something, can't find where it would have connected to anything thoughâ€¦ so pulled it out and the side went back on.

Starting installing all my games and copying over files and drivers for my mouse etc. New monitor came with a cd that had some drivers and power saver app so tried to install those, resulted in a RSoD (never seen that before and had to google it). Glad I had a restore point only ~hour before. Did some googling and it looks like the dell cd was just bloatware I don't need anyway, in the trash it goes.

After those two minor hiccups, I finally got to use the fancy new machine for its true purpose :D

So far I have used the following programs: Chrome, Opera, Excel, Half-Life 2, Arkham City, Need for Speed, rFactor, Star Trek Online, Goldeneye (Half-life 2 mod) Didn't even have enough space to have this many installed at the same time before (old HD was a 5400rpm 250GBâ€¦)

General: Reasonably quiet, lounder than my laptop (until it started to over heat and I had to set it on top of a usb fan pad) not disturbing loud especially if the a/c or tv is on you can't hear it at all. The LEDs on the fans look slick didn't expect them on the side fan too! and the psu white matches the case fan white (guess that makes sense as they are both corsair) Been using the front audio port for headphones, like that it autodisables the speakers (which are plugged in the back) Internal wiring looks nice and slick to help with the airflow

Web browsing: I am one of those nutters that opens 20+ tabs, my old computer occasionally struggled and would pull the "wait for program to respond" when I got carried away. 0 instances so far :D The larger resolution has also helped me run programs side by side which is really useful.

FPS: Half-Life 2 and mods maxed out didn't even make it flinch, makes sense as it isn't that new. Haven't tried COD yet but I ramped the Arkahm City setting up to max, it gave a warning that you should have at least a gtx 560 :P The experience is on a completely different scale from what I was used it, feels like I am experiencing the games like they were meant to be. The lowest registered fps in arkahm city benchmarking was 48 with an average of 59 (looks like it is capped at 60) it was the very begin of a test that triggered the 48, which is higher than the max I was getting with low settings on my old computer haha.

MMO: Star Trek Online for some unknown reason tended to really punish my old rig, it would get increadably hot and even shut it self off if I played for over an hour, so I was going to treat this as the real test. I ran it for a couple hours at 1920x1080 and very high detail setting, not only were the load times for the areas reduced but the air coming out the back fan didn't change much in temp from idle!!! Really glad I went with the 500R case and it's big side fan to help out as it looks like I don't have any airflow/temp issues anymore which is a relief. Guess that stress/stability testing stuff really works!

Driving: The newer need for speeds I couldn't even play (fps was <15) and rFactor was running at 800x600 not the best. Both are now running in 1080p with high settings and excellent frame rates :D High FPS is really important for being able to drive accurately in the realistic sims and the nfs series tends to have abnormally low fps so I haven't tried maxing out yet but just the resultion ramp makes a great improvement

Accessories: Targus basic keyboard, Logitech G500 mouse, Logitech G25 steering wheel/pedals
All plugged in and the Logitech management software that lets me adjust things like sensitivity on the fly is all playing well with no issues

Would also like to include a thank you to bprat22, Orange7, and tju76 who helped me out in the configuration stage.

I have built my own computer before but with the great price, over-clocking (never really felt comfortable doing this myself), reputation for good service, and well populated forums it felt like a no brainer to go with DS. Easy choice to recommeded to my friends.

If you are looking at a similar build/need/budget to me and have a specific question about a choice I made on why or anything let me know.

Template from my config thread:
Budget: ~1.7-1.8k
Expectations: Play current generation at high settings
Usage: Lots of gaming (mostly fps, mmo, and some rts), movie playing via second connection to a 42" 1080 HDTV, usual internet music etc
Special Needs: Nothing crazy loud but doesn't need to be silent

Haha yeah, probably not fair to compare a $800 3 year old laptop to a $1700 brand new DS desktop... but that is my reference!

Had a good MMO session this morning and the temp got a bit higher than idle but still nowhere near worrying, I couldn't even comfortably touch the laptop body it got so hot but the tower body is staying room temp even right at the exit fans :D

For the G25, I have a setup similar to this (I am not at home (ninja defense is up though) or would just take a pic) http://tweakers.net/ext/i.dsp/1147951647.jpg

In my opinion the sit on the lap wheels are useless as anything with respectable force feedback would end up shifting and throwing off your steering angle. I would highly recommend mounting it to your desk, it makes a world of difference (I used to have a "lap mount" one back in the ps1 days and it was a hunk of junk compared to my now solidly mounted g25). It basically has plastic c-clamp arms under the steering wheels and shift knob, I don't recall the exact range but fits all the desks I have had (had my g25 for ~4-5 years) My other hobby is car racing and the impact a nicely mounted force feedback wheel running something like rFactor has on making a sim useful for learning and refreshing your memory on tracks is dramatic. Some people thought I was nuts for getting a nice wheel on a pretty barebones rig when I got it, but everyone that tried it out wanted one. If you like car racing games without one you will love them with one!

I also love STO, I always feel slightly embarrassed mentioning it as it got such horrible reviews but as now free to play mmo for a star trek fan (pauses to take a sip from his drink resting on next generation coaster) that doesn't fall into the deep end of something like eve, I think it is awesome fun. I have fond memories of playing ST:TNG for 95/DOS and this satisfies my craving for space battles and it's in HD

I will check out the mirror mission and see what happens. My laptop lasted for getting my fed character to lvl 50 and could just about let me fly an odyssey but when I started my klingon character every time Qo'noS First City loaded it would try to light itself on fire and I had to limit to less than 60 mins and a few hours of cool down, less than ideal to say the least. Setting wise I haven't played with the advance stuff yet just upped the resolution to my monitor's max and put the slider all the way to the quality slide.

Interesting point on picking up the case, I assume for an airflow benefit? I will see what I can figure out, I do have a wheeled dolly but that would cover the side fan. Do you folks get much airflow through the bottom? I was surprised that the dust filter was down there instead of the front panelâ€¦. I am sure the is a good reason, but not really my area of expertise.

bprat22, thanks for pushing me to the 500R instead of the 300R, very pleased I went with your advice there!

Love the review and pics. If you have room get something like a small cofee table to sit your rig on, or If you know anyone that does wood working you could have a small platform on legs build to fit the space you have. Just some ideas and congrats on your new rig.

All evil comes from within,
Not from Without,
Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path,
Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy.

My work hours are a bit tough to predict, which makes weekday events that aren't really late or really early a bit tough. Weekends are easier but this weekend i have a car race in rl but i'll let you know when i have a chance to hop back in

didn't think of that, makes sense that it keeps the dust from getting sucked in by being further away, so i don't have to worry about lifting it with something full open on the bottom, that makes it easier! thanks for tips!

Thanks, your shift in experience should be even more wild than mine! My laptop was only 3 years old.

Still trying to figure out what the selector on the far right on the picture below controls. I though it would something fan related but I can't tell a noise difference between the three positions.... any ideas? I have it in the top most position as that is how it was when it arrived.

Figured out the reset and led buttons much more easily, though not entirely intentionally

Thanks, your shift in experience should be even more wild than mine! My laptop was only 3 years old.

Still trying to figure out what the selector on the far right on the picture below controls. I though it would something fan related but I can't tell a noise difference between the three positions.... any ideas? I have it in the top most position as that is how it was when it arrived.

Figured out the reset and led buttons much more easily, though not entirely intentionally

It's probably the self-destruct button or the "DONT TOUCH DAT" button. Honestly i have no idea.Sorry

Just a short update. Started playing SC2:WoL and COD:Black Ops II both completely maxed out and my rig has been handling it like a champ

Great frame-rates, no stutters at all. Not sure how relatively demanding the games are but the water/rain effects in Black Ops II blew my mind!!!! This is the first time I have had the computer to really enjoy the little details like that and I love it!!!!!!! The air coming out the back doesn't even get that warm, unlike my work computer which tries to light itself on fire if I open more than 5 tabs in chrome

I have been used to having a computer struggle with the latest and greatest games and continuing to just hit max everything on a build that didn't break the bank is a great feeling.

Thanks again to the forum guys that helped me pick and DS for the rock star computer

Almost 2 years later and the computer continues to crush it. I have been playing the new Wolfenstein, Tomb Raider, COD:Ghosts, and Saint's Row IV. No issues at all

I did move to a new place recently and was thinking about a UPS as it is a bit older power line wise and I want to keep my computer safe. I had the power flicker during a heavy storm earlier this week which resulted in the computer cutting off

I have no idea how to pick a "good one" though... because I have an 800W power supply and would need to plug the monitor in too do I need something that can put out that many watts? I have also see comments about lack of compatibility with sine versus stepped sine and I am not really sure what I need. All I want to be able to do is have the computer do a standard shutdown instead of a power loss. Maybe I am just being paranoid... I do have everything on legit surge protectors, is that good enough?

Almost 2 years later and the computer continues to crush it. I have been playing the new Wolfenstein, Tomb Raider, COD:Ghosts, and Saint's Row IV. No issues at all

I did move to a new place recently and was thinking about a UPS as it is a bit older power line wise and I want to keep my computer safe. I had the power flicker during a heavy storm earlier this week which resulted in the computer cutting off

I have no idea how to pick a "good one" though... because I have an 800W power supply and would need to plug the monitor in too do I need something that can put out that many watts? I have also see comments about lack of compatibility with sine versus stepped sine and I am not really sure what I need. All I want to be able to do is have the computer do a standard shutdown instead of a power loss. Maybe I am just being paranoid... I do have everything on legit surge protectors, is that good enough?

I welcome any thoughts/suggestions!

heres one i ran across on Amazon, i plan on getting it later http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=311P3V3AZBLF3&coliid=I2VNXQ5OUWK3O8&psc=1

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